Education That Helps Every Child Learn

Jeff Smith has direct experience with schools and school issues in the 18th District and will be an advocate for a strong, solvent public education system in Illinois.

Relevant Experience and Activities:
  • Attended Chicagoland public schools; graduated with honors from Maine South
  • 25 parent-years in district public schools
  • student teaching in college
  • involved in the Evanston schools as a PTA volunteer
  • served on a school improvement team; numerous appearances before school board
  • served on the Candidate Nominating Committee for Districts 65 and 202
  • taught at the graduate level; developed an entire course curriculum
  • coach to many community children in baseball, soccer, and chess
  • worked with a parent group that successfully advocated for the
    opening of Timber Ridge (now Bessie Rhodes) magnet school
  • As an attorney, has advised both parents and teachers on matters ranging from special education services to workplace issues
  • has represented both students and educational institution employees
Some of the Educators Supporting Jeff Smith:
  • Hon. Keith Terry, President, Dist. 65 Bd. of Education
  • Hon. Steve Gilford, former president, Dist. 202 Bd. of Education
  • Hon. Rose Johnson (former member, Dist. 65 Bd. of Education.)
  • Hon Lisa D'Angelo (former member, Dist. 65 Bd. of Education)
  • Hon. Jonathan Baum (former member, Dist. 65 Bd. of Education)
  • Prof. Henry Rose (Loyola)
  • Prof. Jeffrey Shaman (Depaul)
  • Prof. Barry Kellman (Depaul)
  • Prof. Irwin Weil (Northwestern)
Jeff ’s Plan for Improving Education in Illinois:
  • Work for relief from No Child Left Behind
    Jeff was skeptical of NCLB from the start as a potential threat to a strong public school system, and as an imposition of unfunded mandates that would skew school districts toward the quantifiable; Jeff believes that the easiest metric is not necessarily the best metric.
  • Invest in early child education; provide family support
    Jeff believes that more can and should be done to involve parents as partners in education from an earlier age, and that the highest payoff results from an early investment in the development of young minds. We need to find ways to make education highly valued in every household; to do so requires partnering with families.
  • Reduce emphasis on “teaching to the test”
    Jeff believes that a rote education is a poor education, and that allowing testing to drive education educates fewer, and not as well as does a sound and engaging curriculum delivered by skilled and motivated professionals. This applies doubly if the tests are not well-designed.
  • Honor the state obligation to fund education
    The state's constitutional obligation to be the primary funder of a strong public school system has not been honored, and this neglect is responsible for both high property taxes and inequity. The state funding must be both increased and a formula implemented that will be fairer to students in districts without a strong economic base.
  • Reduce reliance on property taxes for schools
    The corollary to increase in state funding should be property tax relief. Parents should not, in retirement, be taxed out of the communities in which they raised their children.
  • Address disparities in resources between districts
    While a community should be have the freedom to express its values by devoting more of its resources to schools, and families should be free to move to such communities if they share those values, to tie school resources as Illinois does so tightly to property values produces inequality incompatible with American ideals. An increase in state funding will help to alleviate some of this. In so doing, districts, especially those with unique circumstances (such as Evanston's, which have unusual expenses for a community with high property values), must not be penalized or placed in a financial bind.
  • Reduce/eliminate unfunded mandates
    Legislators must not use the schools for political gain by passing laws that impose additional duties or responsibilities on districts or the State Board of Education but do not allocate any resources to pay for those additional duties and responsibilities.
  • Make all schools safe and nurturing environments
    Schools better serve their purpose when parents trust them and students want to attend. Risk to our children must be minimized. Schools can and should play an integral part in dismantling our culture of violence.
  • Keep ideological agendas out of public schools
    The transmission of the positive aspects of a culture is a legitimate function of an educational system, and any educational system will make values statements. That should not serve as excuse for making children pawns in culture wars. The political and psychological needs of adults must never displace the educational needs of children. Consensus, civility, use of the democratic process, and acknowledgment that schools are not intended to substitute for family or church must govern legitimate debate.
  • Increase support for local libraries
    Libraries are not simply a civic nicety; in reality and under Illinois law the public library is an adjunct to the educational system. Jeff opposes cutting funding to libraries at a time when Illinois residents' need for library services is increasing due to the economy, and will work to restore per capita grants. 
Jeff Smith on Education
A strong public education system is a bedrock of our system of democracy, fundamental to the freedoms promised in the American dream, essential to the maintenance of our common ideals, and key to where people choose to live and raise families. I was the first in my family to go to college, only one generation removed from immigrants who came here with little in material goods but an abiding passion for learning. I owe an incalculable amount to the value my family placed on education, and to their decision to move to a town "for the schools," as so many do. With each passing year I respect ever more the progressive and comprehensive public education I received in Illinois schools, and the training and dedication of the teachers and administrators who encouraged me along the way.

My family numbers among it several past and present teachers, as does my initial supporters' group. I was involved in the Evanston schools as a PTSA volunteer, a member of a school improvement team, and a member of the Candidate Nominating Committee for school board elections. I supported several successful school board candidates and also worked with a group instrumental in persuading District 65 to open a new magnet school in Evanston. I myself did some student teaching while in college, later taught at the graduate level, and have taught various arts and skills to many children in my work with youth groups. Last but not least, our children were successful students. So I can bring to any policy discussion some considerable experience with education at the ground level, and some ideas about what works.

The State of Illinois has been defaulting for years on its state constitutional obligation to fund education, a principal reason that we rank an embarrassing 48th out of 50 states in spending per pupil despite the state's relative wealth. The state's failure to carry its weight is one reason property taxes — essentially, local school districts' only way to raise funds — are so high in many communities.

A separate but related issue is the gap in funding, spending, and resources between districts. The demographic disparity along the north lakefront and North Shore is reflected in large disparities in school resources. Money is not the only answer for what ails our schools, but resources make a difference.

On a pedagogical level, I don't believe in unfunded mandates or "teaching to the test." I opposed No Child Left Behind from the start, as a threat to public education. I am wary of attempts by adults to use public schools to further ideological agendas. I favor early child education programs as both a wise and compassionate investment.

The challenge for Illinois is to fulfill its obligation to all local school districts, yet not punish communities and families who have voluntarily chosen to invest in their schools. In a time of strained resources, we must be creative in finding ways to ensure that every dollar spent has maximum, meaningful impact, for the benefit of the children.
— Jeff Smith


Jeff Smith has the perspective of a parent, a taxpayer, and someone who has worked with children in the 18th District, from all backgrounds and ability levels. Jeff Smith has the experience of seeing and knowing how decisions in Springfield affect our schools at the local level, and he will put that experience to use to make reality-based decisions.


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